From Legends of Old
by ztarose23
Summary: A woman with considerable power goes where no person has gone before-Into the mind of a dangerous god. When the Avengers lose the battle and Loki ascends as the ruler of the Earth, will she be able to save herself and what's left of her planet? Or will she too kneel before the God of Lies? Loki/OC
1. Chapter 1

To say that the Avengers were confused when Director Fury presented a dark haired woman wearing sunglasses, no taller than Thor's chest, would be a colossal understatement.

"Everyone, this is Ada Fisher. We're bringing her in to try and make some sense out of this whole Loki business," he said gruffly. The woman stood there quietly, not quite relaxed, but certainly not on edge in the way that everyone else on the helicarrier was.

"Okay, Fury," Tony Stark stepped forward. "If none of us, especially Point Break over there, have been able to make any sense out of Reindeer Games and his whole backstory behind his little plan, why would this girl be able to?" He paused. "No offense."

She offered a small smile. "None taken, Mr. Stark."

"Miss Fisher, here, has an ability to which neither I nor any subordinates have ever seen before." Fury paused to add dramatic effect. "She has the ability to see and manipulate dreams."

No one said a word. Finally, Natasha spoke up. "Sir, I'm fairly certain that's not possible."

Fury's eye narrowed at the redhead but Ada stepped forward. "Actually, Agent, it's quite possible." She reached up and pulled off the glasses, revealing eyes so pale that one might have thought her to be blind if she wasn't staring so intently into Natasha's face.

The Black Widow narrowed her eyes in doubt, prompting Ada to speak. "When you were a little girl, long before your parents died and you were taken into training, there was a small meadow out behind your grandmother's house where you would just sit and marvel at the life of the forest in ways that many children couldn't comprehend," she told the woman in a soothing voice. "I know this because you dream of it often. It's your place of solitude. You think of it even when you aren't asleep. It lives on your skin like a tattoo. Your last semblance of childhood."

The group snapped their heads to Natasha, who was looking at this woman as if she wasn't sure whether or not to be stunned or to shoot her. No one spoke for a moment.

"So, how is it-"

"I can see into the dreams of beings, Mr. Stark," she said smoothly. "It doesn't matter if you're awake or not. People give off constant energies that project much more about them than they ever mean to. Plus, people wear their dreams on their sleeves. Not the 'when I grow up I want to be' dreams. Their actual, unconscious thought dreams."

Thor spoke next. "How?" he asked simply.

"You may or may not have heard of my grandfather Morpheous."

"Like the Matrix?" asked Stark.

"Like the Greek god of dreams."

Bruce Banner blinked at her in astonishment. "The god of dreams?"

Ada nodded. "Long story short, after most deities left the earth realm, my grandfather stayed and walked among men for hundreds of years. He met my grandmother, fell in love, popped out a couple of kids and here I am." She grinned then, her pretty face lighting up mischievously. "However, the power seemed to skip a generation because I am the only one with any semblance to my origins. Much to my mother's chagrin."

"I need to sit down." Banner walked over and took a seat at a nearby desk, running his hand over his tired face.

"I still don't see how she's going to help us." Captain America said to Fury.

Once again, Fury was silenced by Ada, who approached the Captain. "Sir, do you realize how truly powerful the dream is?"

He blinked down into her pale gray eyes. "I'm afraid I can't say that I can."

"The dream is the doorway of the mind. It is the complete truth of every being that sleeps, animal or human. It is where they come up with ideas, live out fantasies, replay events in their lives that have happened previously." She looked to the group, who was watching her with complete fascination.

"If a person does not dream, then they are not truly capable of sentient thought. There are certainly those sorts of beings out there, but I've never encountered one. What I can do is walk through a door in Loki's mind that would show us essentially everything that we need to know. Where the tesseract is, what lead him to make these decisions, what he plans on doing if he assumes power. I can find out all of this."

She turned to Thor. "Thor Odinson, I presume?" At his curt nod, she continued. "Can I please speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Miss Fisher-"

"Director Fury," she interrupted, "If you want me to do my job effectively, then you are going to have to let me get as much information as possible on this subject since you weren't able to provide it."

She strode out of the room, leaving a blustering Fury and skeptical heroes in her wake.

Thor sat across from this small Midgardian woman, unsure of how to handle her. He had heard of the Grecian gods before, met a few of them even, but that was almost a thousand years ago. Ever since their reign on Midgard ended, they had left and gone to a different realm where no one had really heard from them since.

So, yes, he was quite stunned that this tiny woman was, as she claimed, the direct decedent of the god of dreams, and even more stunned that Director Fury had managed to find her.

"Thor," she said quietly. "I need to know all that you do about Loki. If everything goes well, I may not even have to go into his dreams and honestly, I don't want to." She looked at him sheepishly. "Quite frankly, I'm absolutely terrified of this."

His blond brows came together. "Then why would you put yourself into this position, my lady?"

She smiled, but there was no happiness behind it. Only sadness. "He's threatening my world, Sir. I don't know exactly why I have the power that I do, but if I stayed home in fear and allowed the earth to be taken from us, then I'm doing a disservice to me and my fellow man."

"You do not seem happy with the power you possess."

She studied her fingernail. "Not particularly. I've wished many times that I don't have the abilities that I do. I can control it a little better after working with SHEILD and my grandfather, but I still see bits and pieces from people's mind. The mind is full of dream fragments, Thor Odinson. Sometimes it's difficult to discern reality from fantasy."

"Lady Fisher, I still don't understand how you are going to find out what no one else has. Loki is a master liar, one of the greatest sorcerers that Asgard has ever seen. I don't see how you will be able to enter into his mind."

"That's why I really need your help." She looked back into the thunder god's bright blue eyes that were clouded with worry, not just for this human world, but for the being that he had called brother for his entire existence. "I may not need to actually go into his mind. I was able to read the Widow because she was there, in the room with me and her energy was where I could easily absorb it. I need to know if you have anything that your brother often touched or wore, or even found comforting. Particularly anything that he used after he fell from the Bifrost."

Thor thought for a moment and then stood. "I think I may have what you are looking for." He beckoned her to rise and follow him, which she did without question.

He took her into the lab where Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were working on Loki's scepter. "Oh, hey guys," Stark said to them as they came through the door. "Fancy seeing you here, Point Break. Any reason that you're intruding on our space?"

""Lady Fisher needs to see Loki's scepter." Thor replied blandly, distaste for the human evident on his features.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Stark moved in front of the table where that the scepter was on and leaned up against it. "We're still researching it and it'll be a little while before we get any results. Isn't that right, Brucie?"

Bruce ignored him. "What do you need it for, Miss Fisher?" he asked her politely.

She hardly heard him. Her attention was drawn to the scepter on the table that she could partly see behind Stark. She walked toward it slowly, eyes glazed over in a trance like state, ignoring the protests and questions from the men in the room. When she came to it, she stopped.

"So much…" she whispered before putting her hands on it.

* * *

Despair. Anger. Jealousy. Fear.

These were all of the emotions that she felt as she saw the fragmented dreams of the would-be king.

Dark, terrible voices plagued him. Promises of glory and pain, all in the same sentences running together so that it was just high pitched sounds that threatened to rupture her ear drums. There was no place where this god had felt safe. Not since his fall from grace.

A great depression was constant. Nature was trying to claw its way from him and fatigue was constant. However, he was stronger than he had ever been in his thousands of years. A source of power had been given to him, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find it.

The faces of those he had killed with this scepter haunted his dreams. Did he cry out at night when he saw that pretty young dancer die by his hand because he was angry and she was in his way? Ada didn't know. But what she did know, as she drew her way back into the world and out of his dreams, was that she was gasping on the floor and that someone was calling for a doctor.

Ada came to, clutching the scepter so tightly that her knuckles were completely white. Bruce, Stark, Thor and Director Fury were all crouching over her, worried looks on their faces.

She gasped and threw the scepter away from her, causing the men to jump away. She rolled over, her hair spilling over her shoulders and shielding her face from them.

_Get it together, Ada,_ she told herself. _You've done this before with worse men than this. You can do this. You have to do this._

But it wasn't the same. Yes, she had looked into the minds of serial killers, rapists, bombers, but none added up to this. None had the thousands of years of pain that this soul had. The worst part was knowing that she still hadn't gotten the information that she needed. She hadn't even scratched the surface of this god's mind, and she knew that the fate of humanity would require her to have to delve deeply into it.

She felt a pair of big strong hands close gently on her shoulders and pull her up. When she shook her hair out of the way, she saw Thor looking at her, worry etched into his brow.

"Lady Fisher, what happened?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Everything is very scattered." She whispered. "There are no real memories that I could discern and honestly, I won't be able to unless I'm able to slip in while he's actually asleep."

Director Fury approached her. "Miss Fisher-"

"Director," she snapped. "Do you really think that's what I want to happen? He's a sorcerer with power of the likes I've never seen. If he sensed me in there, he could lock me up and throw away the key. But I have to do this." She broke off with a sob. "If I can't try every possible option, then the world will be lost. You need to know at least a little bit of what's going on in that guy's head!"

Ada looked to Maria Hill, who had just joined the group. "Agent Hill, please take me to where Loki is being held."

Maria hesitated. "Director Fury…"

He sighed. "You heard her, Agent Hill. But before that happens, someone needs to try to sedate him first."

Ada held up her finger. "Do you still have my purse?" Fury nodded. "Then have it brought to me."

Minutes later, Ada was at a round table with the Avengers and pulling out a clear jar full of what looked like ashes.

She turned to Director Fury. "This is a jar of sleeping powder. My grandfather would use it to make people fall into a deeper sleep when he needed to get a message across." She slid the jar towards him. "I don't know how you'll do it, but you need to get some of this into the cell he's being held in. If he inhales it, he'll be out like a light within minutes."

Maria grabbed it and walked away with it. As an afterthought, Ada called out, "Make sure whoever puts that in wears a hazmat suit. And put a handful of it in! That should do it!"

She saw Maria nod her head as she walked away briskly, knowing that time was of the essence.

Ada sank down into the chair, mentally preparing herself for what she was going to have to do. She looked at Thor. "What sort of things do the women of Asgard wear? I need to be able to tailor myself to his dream so he won't suspect me." She added when he looked at her with confusion.

"Uh, well…" the thunder god looked uncomfortable. "They are usually long dresses, not confining like many things that mortal women wear." He rubbed the back of this neck. "I'm not, uh, entirely certain how to explain…"

She held up a hand. "It sounds like I'll have just enough to work with." She stood up and the heroes stood with her. "Please, sit. I want to go to this alone."

She walked away from them, her head held high as she walked with purpose down the corridors and into the room that held Earth's greatest threat.

He was asleep on the floor, she noted, as she approached the glass. Splayed out, he looked like he had tried to fight it before it became too much for him. She smirked a little as she pulled up a chair. Her grandfather never failed her.

She sat down close enough that her knees touched the barrier between them. She studied for a moment who was on the floor in front of her.

A tall, lithe body clad in black and green armor and leather, was tense even in slumber. Her pale eyes traveled to his face. His strong jaw was clenched, his eyes closed and his brow scrunched in unrest. He had a straight, aquiline nose that fit him perfectly. His ink black hair was slicked back but scattered and contrasted sharply with his snow white skin.

Even after all of the damage that he had done, that he could still do, she found herself thinking about how dangerously beautiful he was.

Ada shook herself and took a few deep breaths. As she put her hands to the cold glass and felt her mind wander to the mass of green energy, she whispered a prayer to herself in Ancient Greek.

"Ancients be with me as I embark on this seemingly impossible task. Be near me, guide my mind, and help me save the earth you once inhabited. Gods be with me. Sweet dreams."


	2. Chapter 2

Cold.

Dark.

These were the first things that Ada picked up on as she became one with Loki's unconscious world.

She looked around as walls built around her, dark black and gold clashing together creating a large room with a roaring fireplace that held no fire. She noticed the walls were lined with books and a desk stacked high with papers and literature, quills and pots of ink as well as old fashioned pins.

She stood stock still, knowing she couldn't be seen yet. First she had to know what was happening.

No sooner had she thought that than she heard a large lock unclick and the wall opened up, stairs coming from nothing, and the God of Lies descended into his room.

She saw that his hair was shorter, and he wasn't wearing armor. His eyes glowed emerald green, but he looked sick. Pained.

He strode to a table that sat in front of a large, plush black couch and threw it so that it crashed into the far wall. He picked up chairs and smashed them, roaring his anger and pain, tears falling unconsciously down his face.

Ada watched Loki destroy his room and once he spent his energy, she watched him slowly fall to the ground and start to weep.

It was then she looked to her left and saw, with astonishment, that the Loki she was acquainted with, armor clad and long haired, was standing close to her, watching himself with a mixture of disgust and remembered sadness.

She stepped back carefully, so not to disturb the god's mind. If she could keep it up, she didn't want to be noticed for this entire dream.

Turning her gaze back to the younger Loki, she watched him pick himself up and begin to reassemble his world. He picked up a book with surprising tenderness, brushing it off gently and setting it back onto his desk.

His fists clenched and barely, just barely, she heard him hiss, "Enough."

The scene changed. Colors swirled and she heard thunder overhead. She felt herself standing on a beach. The sand was not soft, but sharp. She stood carefully, unmoving as not to cut herself. She located Loki, crawling out of the black water, weak and broken. He pulled himself onto the shore, looking up at the sky.

She was about to make herself known when she saw a figure approach from the other end of the beach. As it got closer, it was once again the god himself, but this one was different. He wore the garments of what she assumed was a king. His golden horned helmet blazed a beacon on the shore, lighting it for all to see.

"Get up, you pathetic excuse for a god." He spat at the figure on the beach. "Look at yourself. What have you let them do to you?"

The Loki on the ground said nothing, just shook his head and refused to look at the figure standing above him.

The king snarled and grabbed the outcast by the shirt, yanking him to his feet. He winced, feeling the sharp sand beneath the bare soles of his feet.

They stood in silence for a moment and then the broken Loki spoke. He spoke so quietly that Ada couldn't hear him. Neither, apparently, could the king.

"Speak up, you useless pile of puss. _What did you let them do to you!"_

The broken Loki looked up at the king and Ada saw only sadness in his green eyes. "He told me no."

Ada and the king stood stunned. The king spoke. "Excuse me?"

"He said no. When I told him I could've done it all, he told me no."

King Loki snarled but said nothing. He threw the broken prince away from him and began to pace up and down, hand at his chin trying to come up with some sort of idea.

The broken Loki spoke to his opposite. "Who are you?"

The snapped the king out of his reverie. A cold smile touched his lips. "I am what you can become, Loki."

He blinked. Ada was starting to wonder how much of this was his dream and his reality.

"You see, I fell where you did, but I didn't let it stop me. I pushed my way through because I am a _king. _Odin made an enemy from me that day, from us, so walk tall, Loki. Make them kneel before you."

She saw an old spark return to the prince's eyes before the scene changed again. This time, everything was in fragments. She saw Loki with hideous alien creatures, fighting them, training with them, eventually surpassing them in physical skill and cunning. She watched his strength grow and with that his confidence, but she also saw him splinter. Whatever crawled out of that abyss was no longer what fell in the first place. He looked whole again, but she could tell that he was holding on by only a thread.

When his dream finally solidified enough to where she could make out what was being said, it was in the middle.

He was standing with a hooded creature, that glowing blue scepter which held so much terrible energy was being held out to him.

"When you bring the Earth and its humans to their knees," came a terrifying and grating voice, "The tesseract will be united with its sister stone. When that happens-"

"I will be unstoppable." Loki finished for the alien, taking the scepter, letting it glow bright in the hands of its new master.

Ada barely had time to realize what she had just heard before she was in a once grand hall that was now in ruins. People were lying dead around the floor, charred ruins and guts everywhere. She pulled her gaze away from the dead woman near her feet, eyes staring up at her, forever unseeing. Ada waved her hand, sending the dead woman away.

She didn't have a hard time finding Loki. He was standing on top of the throne, pointing his scepter at three kneeling beings.

Ada immediately recognized one of them as Thor. He was on one side of an older man with a woman to his right. Loki was smiling down at them, with a crazed gaze gleaming brightly in his eyes. In his hand he held a larger scepter than the one she had seen. This one was longer, thinner, and at the end were two orbs, glowing green and blue. She recognized the blue as the tesseract, but the green…

Her eyes widened. This must be the all destructive object the alien had spoken of. This was what Loki needed. They were going to send that to him when he brought the army to earth so that he could easily defeat them!

Just as Ada was about to leave his dream, she heard a tisking sound.

"It's not polite to look into private thoughts."

The blood drained from her face as a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. She dared not turn around. In fact, she stayed still, like a statue.

Without warning, she was shoved to the ground, barely catching herself before hitting face first. The Asgardian dress she had dressed herself in fell around her gracefully, pooling around her legs as she stared into the face of the god of lies.

He looked at her closely, curiosity and anger written across his face. "I commend you," he said snidely. "For making it so far without my notice."

"When did you see me?" she asked him quietly, never taking her eyes from his.

"When I was being given the tesseract." His green eyes narrowed at her. He moved so fast she didn't realize it until she was being hoisted up by the throat and slammed into the wall. When she opened her eyes, they were level with his.

"What are you?" he hissed. "Are you the one who put me into this sleep?"

Ada willed her mind out of its shock and with a little smirk, melted out of his grasp.

He spun around to see her behind him. "Who I am is none of your concern." Her pale eyes flashed in warning.

Suddenly, she saw recognition dawn in his features. "You're an Olympian."

She raised her chin a notch. "Once again, as always it seems, you're wrong."

It was a challenge and she winced inwardly for giving one. This was not the type of man to back down from a challenge.

"Then what, pray tell, are you?"

He took a step towards her, but she backed away. She wanted as much space between them as possible. "That's no business of yours."

"You are one to speak, spying on my mind." He growled at her.

"Not spying," she retorted. "Simply observing."

He didn't reply, but held his eyes with hers. It seemed hours before he finally spoke. "I've seen your eyes somewhere before. On an Olympian who was the god of dreams. You must be a part of his bloodline. No mortal would have eyes such as that without his blood running in their veins."

Snapping out of his reverie, he advance and grabbed her again. This time, however, Ada couldn't escape his grasp. She felt his power rush through her body, staying any power that she held within her. Somehow, he was slowly draining her of her magic. She started to struggle wildly, but froze when she heard him laugh darkly.

"I learned from your predecessor, little one." His voice slid over her like a dark promise, a terrifying seduction. "He taught me how to manipulate the mind and the dreams of others. He believed me worthy. You have considerable skill, making it past my barriers this far to see what you've seen."

He leaned in closer to her, inhaling the faint smell of lilac on her skin, in her hair. "You know you cannot go free now, for the crimes you have committed against me."

Suddenly, they were standing in a small, dank room with one single candle that rested on the floor next to a pallet stuffed with straw.

Loki shoved her down onto the pallet, hearing the thud of her head hit the wall. She grunted and tried to turn away from him, but he knelt over her quickly, straddling her hips and grabbing her face with his hands.

"This will be your home until I decide what to do with you," he said to her, holding her jaw tightly. "Until next time, my little dream caster."

He brought his lips down on hers bruisingly, and in that moment, Ada felt her mind disconnect with her body, and all at once, Loki's lips left hers and the candle blew out, leaving her in complete and total darkness.

From the screen in the meeting room, the Avengers and the agents of SHEILD watched in horror as Ada's small body went slack in her chair and crumpled to the ground.

"I need medics to the holding sector, now!" commanded Fury, as he and the heroes rushed behind him to where Loki was being held.

They got to her quickly, Dr. Banner kneeling over her. He held his two fingers to the pulse point in her neck and relaxed slightly. "She's alive. Comatose, it appears, but alive."

"How would she be comatose?" asked the Captain.

They pondered for a moment as doctors rushed over to her, putting her onto a stretcher and carrying her away. Thor spoke.

"I think that he found her."

Natasha looked at the thunder god harshly. "Who?"

"I believe," he said slowly, "That Loki found her in his mind and is keeping her there as his prisoner."

This stunned the group to silence. Stark stepped forward to say something, but they saw movement in the container. Loki stirred, a grin of triumph on his face.

Stark's eyes narrowed. "And what are you so happy about, Reindeer Games?"

Then, without warning, a loud explosion went off, sending the alarms wailing. Everyone jumped into play, trying the best they could to salvage it all.

But in the end, it didn't matter. Barton freed Loki from his containment and within weeks, he scattered the group known as the Avengers to the winds. Nations fell to their knees before their new king and his alien army.

And all the while, Ada watched this from her perch in Loki's mind, weeping for the world that she had tried so desperately to save.


End file.
